Athens News Agency: News in English, 01-11-14

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Foreign Exchange Rates - Thursday

[02] President attends unveiling of monument for fallen medicopter crew in

[03] Mytilineos, Metka show higher profit in third quarter

[04] German SPD Eurodeputy calls on Turkey to change course on Cyprus issue

[05] Weather Forecast: Cloudy with showers on Thursday

[06] ASE follows international markets' rally

[07] Composer Mikis Theodorakis to undergo surgery

[08] Mikis Theodorakis in hospital for operation

[01] Foreign Exchange Rates - Thursday

Indicative tourist buying rates

U.S. dollar 383.986

German mark 172.829

French franc 051.531

Pound sterling 551.786

Irish punt 429.202

Belgian franc 008.379

Luxembourg franc 008.379

Dutch guilder 153.389

Italian lira (100) 017.457

Austrian schilling 024.565

Danish kroner 045.405

Swedish kroner 036.214

Finnish mark 056.852

Spanish peseta 002.032

Portuguese escudo 001.686

Japanese yen (100) 315.334

Swiss franc 229.925

Norwegian kroner 043.093

Cyprus pound 590.288

Canadian dollar 241.444

Australian dollar 200.547

[02] President attends unveiling of monument for fallen medicopter crew in Patmos

President of the Republic Kostis Stephanopoulos arrived on the island of Patmos on Wednesday and attended the unveiling of a monument for an ambulance helicopter crew that lost their lives in the line of duty earlier this year.

The accident occurred in January, when the helicopter went down in a storm just off the coast of Sounion while transporting a patient from the islands to Athens.

The entire crew, including accompanying doctor Sofia Befon, were killed.

The President was accompanied by Aegean Minister Nikos Sifounakis and Healthcare Deputy Minister Ektoras Nasiokas.

While on the island the President also visited the historic monastery named for St. John the Evangelist, who is said to have written the "Apocalypse", the last book of the New Testament.

[03] Mytilineos, Metka show higher profit in third quarter

Mytilineos SA, an Athens-quoted metals trader, on Wednesday reported consolidated earnings before interest, tax and amortisation (EBITDA) of 18.60 billion drachmas in the third quarter, up from 16.00 billion drachmas in the same period a year earlier.

The company said in a statement that consolidated sales rose to 106.3 billion drachmas from 92.5 billion drachmas in the third quarter of 2000, up 15 percent.

The group's net profit before tax topped 7.0 billion drachmas in the third quarter of 2001.

Management described net earnings as satisfactory since the figure did not include earnings from Hellenic Vehicles Industry, which will appear in results for the whole year, the statement added.

Metka, a member of the Mytilineos Group,

[04] German SPD Eurodeputy calls on Turkey to change course on Cyprus issue

BERLIN (ANA - P. Stangos) - German SPD Eurodeputy Mechtilde Rote on Wednesday called on the Turkish government to change course on the Cyprus issue, a move that "is in the interest of Turkey it self".

Commenting on the recent European Commission report on candidate member-states, which lauded Cyprus' successes in incorporating the acquis communautaire, but was less than favorable for Turkey's record, she said that "as long as Ankara maintains the occupation of northern Cyprus, there will not be an accession of Turkey to the European Union and even in the unlikely event that Turkey moves on with the annexation of the occupied (part of the island republic), then it will lose its European prospects".

The Eurodeputy, who is participating in the joint EU-Cyprus parliamentary committee, said that the enlargement of the European Union will not fall victim of the issue of Cyprus accession, despite the fact that there will be, as she said, "frictions", because of the policies followed by Turkey.

[05] Weather Forecast: Cloudy with showers on Thursday

The weather will be overcast in the Ionian, on the mainland and in the northern and eastern Aegean islands, turning to light rain. Winds southerly, light to moderate, turning to east-northeasterly, moderate to strong. In the north, temperatures will range from 8C to 15C; in the west from 14C to 21C; and in the rest of the country from 15C to 21C. Cloud over Athens, turning to showers, with temperatures from 15C and 19C. Same in Thessaloniki, with temperatures from 11C to 14C.

[06] ASE follows international markets' rally

Greek stocks ended Wednesday's session sharply higher with the market following a rally of prices in international bourses on hopes of a quick end to the war in Afghanistan.

Buying interest focused on smaller capitalisation stocks with several blue chip stocks scoring big gains.

The general index ended 2.23 percent higher at 2,690.14 points, with turnover an improved 73.5 billion drachmas, or 215.6 million euros.

The Construction and IT Solutions sectors scored the biggest percentage gains (up 5.95 percent and 4.71 percent, respectively), while the Insurance and Food sectors suffered the heaviest losses (off 2.15 percent and 0.25 percent, respectively).

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks ended 1.91 percent higher, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index rose 3.12 percent and the FTSE/ASE SmallCap 80 index jumped 3.13 percent higher.

Broadly, advancers led decliners by 324 to 27 with another 14 issues unchanged.

[07] Composer Mikis Theodorakis to undergo surgery

Acclaimed Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis was admitted to a private Athens hospital on Wednesday in order to undergo prostate surgery the next day, a press release stated.

[08] Mikis Theodorakis in hospital for operation

Composer Mikis Theodorakis, a key figure of post-war Greek music scene whose works have won a substantial international following, was admitted to a private hospital in Athens on Wednesday to undergo prostate surgery. The operation is scheduled for Thursday.

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